Yoko Hisakawa
Yoko Hisakawa (久川 楊子, Hisakawa Yoko) is the timid lieutenant of the Seventh Division, who was previously an unseated officer in the Fifth Division. Mid-mannered to a fault, many question why she accepted working directly under Hein Ueda in the first place. In reality, Yoko just believed he was misunderstood and that the rumours were just rumours. Even though her judgement proved to be wrong, Yoko humbly takes everything in stride and works tirelessly for her division. As a result, she has garnered a reputation for being incredibly weak-willed, yet hard working and endlessly patient. Appearance Having grey hair at a young age was always a bit of a curse for Yoko. Because, despite her young appearance, people would always assume she was a grandma. Regardless of the insults however, she grew to love her long grey hair, and ties it in a loose ponytail to keep her hair out of her hazel-coloured eyes. Complementing the colour of her eyes, Yoko wears an old, periwinkle jumper under her shihakushou. This is mainly because she hates it when it's a little cold, even if the weather, in reality, is quite moderate. Depending on the season, she switches out the colour of her jumper, mainly to make use of the large amount of jumpers she owns. She also carries around a leather book bag, so that whenever she has free time, Yoko can read the book that she's into at any given time. Currently, Yoko is reading a lot of thrillers and gothic horror novels. When Yoko was at Shino Academy, she wore a longer sleeved version of the female uniform, paired with a short brown scarf. She also wore her hair in long pigtails, similar to when she lived in Rukongai, the only difference being that her hair was shorter and black. Personality Shy and unassuming, Yoko is a somewhat good example that you can judge a book by its cover. An open book for the most part, she's quite honest about what she thinks and how she acts. The only thing that isn't immediately obvious about Yoko is that she's incredibly emotional. This is due in part to her reactionary nature, but is also the result of her getting bullied quite a lot as a child. Yoko has always been prone to bullying because of her hair and her naivety. As she grew up in a fairly peaceful district where most people are quite friendly, Yoko never really noticed if anyone was using her for an ulterior motive. Even when others would explain to her that she was being used, Yoko would just dodge the question and smile. From her point of view, people just needed her help for things. And since she had very few friends growing up, Yoko would accept any positive interaction she was given. Because of this, it's easy to earn her loyalty just by being nice. Very rarely does she break off friendships or partnerships. Usually, when these end, it's the other person who leaves, mainly because they've gotten bored of her. As she's gotten older, Yoko has become a bit more skeptical of people who try to manipulate her. However, if one convinces her for a little bit, she'll fall back into being her gullible self. Even though it seems that she's self-aware at times, Yoko can't really bring herself to not help people, even if they could've done it themselves. Despite her honest personality, Yoko does enjoy story telling quite a bit, and often writes short stories to be submitted into Seireitei Communication. So far, none of them have been accepted due to 'being too intense and creepy.' At this point in time, Yoko has made over 60 submissions to the magazine, and shows no sign of stopping, even if the editors are sick of her stories. History As a child, Yoko lived alone in North Rukongai's 25th district, usually camping out behind tea houses and the like, scavenging for food. Being rather timid, she would keep to the shadows and run whenever someone came near her. That all changed when an old man named Gen found her behind a tea house he frequented. Taking pity on the scared young girl, Gen offered to take her in, an offer that Yoko eventually accepted. This made Gen quite happy, as he had always wanted a child of his own and hated to see them suffer in any way. The first day Gen spent taking care of Yoko was a bit awkward. For one thing, Gen had no idea how to look after children, an obvious oversight on his part. The second problem was that, while he had no need for food, Yoko did and was quite hungry. Because food costs a great deal more than water, and Gen didn't make that much from painting, he was quite worried as to how he was going to raise Yoko. This problem persisted for a few months, with Gen using nearly all his money to feed Yoko, and working doubly as hard to make sure they had money the next week. All the while, Yoko silently watched, wanting to help quite desperately, but having no way to do so. That all changed when one day, Yoko noticed an old shamisen lying in the corner of Gen's house. When she asked about it, he explained that it belonged to his wife who had recently passed away from an unspecified illness. Nervously, Yoko then asked if it'd be alright for her to use it. Seeing as how Yoko meant no harm and was a gentle girl, Gen agreed, on the condition she take good care of it. Grinning, she nodded and ran outside with it, a bewildered Gen slowly following, wondering where she was going with it. It turned out that Yoko intended to use the shamisen to help make money for Gen. Her foster father's struggles had instilled in her a strong desire to help others, and while she didn't really know how to play the instrument, it didn't mean she wasn't going to try. Her first attempted of course, went poorly. People would flat out avoid the discordant music, which made Yoko quite unhappy. Eventually, Gen pulled her aside and offered to teach her, as he was moved by Yoko's generosity. Over the span of a few years, Yoko learnt to play the shamisen, unaware that the whole time, her hair was beginning to go grey. At first, it wasn't really a problem. The bits of grey in Yoko's hair weren't that noticeable, but as time went on, more and more of her hair lost its ebony colour. And while the adults that listened to her play payed it no mind, it was the kids her age who posed a problem, calling her an old lady and throwing dirt at her. As a result, any confidence she had built up, in order to play music in public, shattered. Within a week of the teasing beginning, Yoko stopped busking completely, and exclusively stayed inside. Worried about her, Gen tried to get the kids to stop, but to no avail. Instead, they would mock Gen as well, the problem only getting worse. Years go by and nothing changes. With Yoko's hair now fully grey, she would vehemently refuse to leave home, unless she wore a hat or covered her hair. She would even have emotional outbursts, and sit in a corner for hours. Gen, meanwhile, was devastated. He couldn't do anything to help her, and it broke his heart. After much thinking, Gen came up with a single solution. He had noticed that Yoko possessed some form of spiritual power, and since she still had the desire to help others, he thought it'd be prudent to ask Yoko about becoming a Shinigami. Initially, Yoko refused, afraid that people would mock her for her appearance and call her weird. In response, Gen pointed out that, in general, all Shinigami are 'pretty weird'. Not being able to argue with that logic, and liking the idea of having the power to help people, Yoko applied for the Shinō Academy that day, looking forward to a new life where, hopefully, people would be nice to her. Attending Shinō, Yoko got what she wanted, partially. People were nice to her, but most did so to take advantage of how gullible she had become due to prolonged periods of isolation. Despite how obvious some of these people were in their manipulation of her, Yoko never really noticed, and would do multiple people's homework, never considering for a second that she was being used. Regardless of how she was treated, and how doing the work of others made things harder for Yoko, she managed to graduate from the academy after a single failed attempt. The main reason she failed initially was due to the fact that she had less time to study material given to her, as she was busy completing other people's assignments. With her main tormentors graduating, Yoko finally had the time to apply herself fully and join the Gotei 13 as a member of the Fifth Division. Some unspecified time after, Yoko was appointed lieutenant of the Seventh Division under Hein Ueda. Powers and Abilities Kidō Expert: 'Being someone who isn't a fan of physical contact, Kidō appealed to Yoko greatly, especially given its versatility. As a result, Kidō became the thing she excelled at the most, though not high enough to be admitted into the Kidō Corps. When it comes to Kidō spells, Yoko is able to use spells up to number 50 at full effect, without incantation. '''Hakuda Practitioner: '''Despite Yoko's above average grades at the Shinō Academy, she never once got good grade in Hakuda. Unlike Kidō, she never really took to Hakuda, mainly due to her shy nature causing her to prefer longer distance combat. Even so, Yoko does possess some skill in Hakuda, though it mainly extends to basic self defense and nothing more￼. Zanpakuto '''Hyakki Shuu '(百鬼集 , "Hundred Demon Collection") is, in its sealed state, an ordinary zanpakuto with a round hand guard. The hand guard itself is well decorated, having an etching of dancing yokai circling the hilt, and one string tied on either end of the guard. The hilt, meanwhile, is a dusty yellow while the binding is a forest green colour. As a zanpakuto spirit, Hyakki Shuu takes on the appearance of a black garbed onmyoji with shoulder length white hair, his face obscured by a long scroll. While he never really shows his face, Yoko describes his counternance as 'noble, yet frightening'. This is mainly due to his long, sharp teeth and yellow cat-like eyes, something Hyakki Shuu himself is quite insecure about. Personality wise, Hyakki Shuu is much like Yoko, in that he is incredibly shy and soft-spoken. However, despite his more passive nature, Hyakki Shuu does speak his mind from time to time, and occasionally calls Yoko out for being stubborn or naive. '''Shikai: Release by the command "Parade" (行進, "Koushin"), Hyakki Shuu transforms into a nagamaki version of its sealed state. The only difference in appearance being that the blunt end of the blade has a green bordered scroll, that runs most of its length, inserted into it. When Yoko uses one of Hyakki Shuu's abilities, the scroll unravels, revealing the name of the yokai written on it in large kanji. Shikai Ability: '''After annoucing "Parade" once more, Yoko can call on the ability of one of 5 Yokai. Each Yokai represents an aspect of herself. Because of this, when she initially obtained her Shikai, part of her personality would become exacerbated. Now, it only happens if she is incredibly weakened in battle. Another down side to Hyakki Shuu's Shikai is, that the scroll on the blunt side of the nagamaki drains Yoko's reiatsu when it extends. As a result, this limits the range of any Shikai ability to approximately 40 metres. * '''Kyorinrin (経凛々, "Awe inspiring sutra"): This ability causes the scroll on the back of Hyakki Shuu to take on the vague shape of a dragon's head. This 'dragon' then attacks as commanded by Yoko. Its movement is, however, easy to mess up as, if one harms the scroll, the 'dragon' becomes enraged and begins attacking on its own. This can be disasterous, as when enraged, the 'dragon' can occasionally pull its length past Yoko's limit, causing heavy strain on her as a result. This is a reference to how, in Yokai legend, the Kyorinrin lashes out in anger if its books and scrolls come to any harm. * 'Ao Andon '(青行灯, "Blue Andon (andon being a type of lantern)"): Unlike the other four abilities of Hyakki Shuu, Ao Andon can only be activated under a specific circumstance. That being that Yoko needs to swing her sword a total of 100 times while using Shikai. After the 100th swing, Yoko can unleash Ao Andon, which coats the entire blade of Hyakki Shuu in blue flames. The flames themselves are quite hot, but only stay alight for 100 seconds, before fizzling out. When that happens, Ao Andon's counter resets. Because the flames themselves consume a lot of reiatsu, Yoko usually stops using Ao Andon after 40 seconds. * 'Aosagibi '(青鷺火, "Blue Heron Fire"): When used, the scroll on the end of Hyakki Shuu will emit glowing yellow particles that explode into large blue flames after a second. As the particles can be thrown into the air, Yoko often uses this ability as an escape tactic, with added destructive force. Compared to Ao Andon, the flames themselves are much stronger, but only for the short period after the gold powder explodes. After that, they settle down into weak, hand sized flames. * 'Zenko '(善狐, "Good Fox"): * 'Enenra '(煙々羅, "Lightweight-fabric Smoke"): As an ability, Enenra has no real combat capabilities, and is more so used to either trap or confuse enemies. This is through thick amounts of white smoke that Yoko can manipulate to cover an entire area, or to wall enemies into a dome of smoke. Since the smoke is relatively easy to break out of, it's more used as a diversion, or a way to temporarily stop an enemy in battle. It can also be used to suffocate an enemy to death, though if possible, Yoko prefers to use it for that purpose. Trivia * Because of how much Yoko hates anything cold, she will eat hot food all year round, much to the horror of her squad mates. * Yoko's favourite foods are curry and hot pot, while her least favourite foods are watermelon and frozen goods. * Yoko's hobbies include reading, knitting, bonsai and quilting. * Once, someone tried to force Yoko to eat a popsicle, only for her to cry out in pain after biting it. A rather furious Yoko then had to explain that she avoided cold food due to her very sensitive teeth. From that day on, no one tried giving her anything cold ever again. * Yoko's theme song is To Be Brave by Bryde * The profile image was drawn by me